Financial worries can impact employee performance, survey shows

Personal financial challenges are having more of an impact on overall employee performance, notably causing stress and affecting their ability to focus on work, a McGraw-Hill Federal Credit Union-sponsored survey released Wednesday shows.

Knowing the influence financial challenges can have on employees and their performance, HR professionals should consider offering a financial counseling program, said Bruce Elliott, manager of benefits and compensation at the Society of Human Resource Management, which conducted the study.

In other words, when it comes to keeping and attracting talented workers, financial education and retirement saving and planning are important benefits, he said in a statement accompanying the survey results.

The survey shows 41 percent of HR professionals and almost as many HR representatives indicating that employees are faced with more financial challenges today than during the onset of the recession in 2007.

A spokesman for Austin-based RetailMeNot Inc., a multinational digital coupon marketplace, said the company has taken steps to alleviate the problem by offering a regular lunch series to its employees that covers how to participate in our 401K program, manage company stock options as employees' equity matures and also how to participate in the employee stock purchase program.

"Our financial philosophy is rooted in helping people save," said Brian Hoyt, vice president of communications at RetailMeNot. "When it comes to our employees, we're not just talking the talk, but also walking the talk."

The survey, which depicts a seven percentage point increase from 2011, also shows that Baby Boomers and Generation X are most likely to participate in financial education programs.

“Even in an improving economy, many workers continue to struggle with their finances,” said Evren Esen, director of SHRM's Survey Programs, in a statement. “Two out of five workers are having a harder time with money now compared with the onset of the recession in 2007.”

The survey of 401 randomly selected HR personnel was conducted by SHRM from December 2013 through January 2014. It has a margin of error of plus or minus five percent.